The Kingdom of Pendrell
Synopsis Once the largest of the kingdoms of Raia, the kingdom of Pendrell has been in a decline of sorts since the War of the Moon and the Rose twenty years ago (861 OB), as it lost all lands west of the Tyrillan Expanse as a result of its treaties with the Valtari Empire, as well as the loss of the Kingdom of Leonelle. It is often regarded as "the land of the gods," due to its key role in establishing the Pendric faith across the continent and the god fearing nature of most of its inhabitants. It is mostly comprised of humans, but the occasional elven conclave is not uncommon, and there are a fair share of halfling communities as well. Beginnings There is some debate as to when exactly the kingdom began: some argue it began with the birth of Pendrell Orphanborn (0 OB), though there was not a crown ruler until Queen Sophia Orphanborn proclaimed the lands of Godsvale to be a kingdom in 38 OB, seven years after her father's untimely death at the Tragedy at Sullenwald. Pendrell never crowned himself a king, instead considering himself a prophet and voice for the gods. As a result, he never expanded via conquest or waged wars against neighboring kingdoms. He instead traveled tirelessly from corner to corner of the continent performing miracles for the smallfolk in order to turn them to glory of the gods, which proved massively successful as of modern day the Pendric faith dominates much of Raia. His main companions in such quests were the elven druid Mishal (Pendrell's mentor, confidant, and father figure, as well as champion of Haelle), the human cleric Verdelet (champion of the Crones), and his lover Roana. The faith spread quickly, as the other champions also spent most of their time traveling and spreading the good word. The only champion who stayed back to look over Godsvale was the half elf Yuna, who represented the goddess Senia. Pendrell met his end while trying to lift the curse of Sullenwald in the Western Kingdom of Elduvia. It is unknown exactly what happened, but there was apparently some kind of fire that started while he was trying to lift the curse that consumed both the castle, most of the surrounding city, and both Pendrell and Roana. Mishal ruled Godsvale for seven years until Sophia Orphanborn came of age. Sophia had been embittered by her father's death, and saw all the nobility that refused to give up their pagan beliefs for the Pendric faith as traitors to the best interests of the humanoid races. As a result, one of her first orders of business was to declare Godsvale the center of a new kingdom named for her father. Additionally, she named herself hierarch of the faith, meaning she was in charge in the upkeeps of the Church of the White Rose and the actions of the clergy. The champions unanimously agreed to this save for the human Ritallos, champion of Ulthos, who doubted her temperament as queen and hierarch and thought she needed time to mature. He drew these opinions from his time as her personal trainer in arms and combat, and was something of a mentor to her in her youth. After this, however, the two were never on speaking terms, even as Ritallos was on his deathbed. Queen Sophia the Conqueror (38 OB - 85 OB) Soon after she established the kingdom, she called together a council with the champions and declared that she wished to spread the faith through conquest to kingdoms who are still pagan. The champions were not so unanimous in their opinion here. Mishal in particular was against this change from Pendrell's doctrine of peace. However, Sophia proved to be an adept negotiator and an even more adept leader. Godsvale had grown from a small community to a full blown city at this point, as commoners from all across the continent flocked there to see the Church of the White Rose and remain in good health under the divine magic of the clergy. In their fervor, much of the public supported Sophia's call for war. Some kingdoms even sent letters to Sophia claiming that if she ever came to their gates, they would peacefully bend the knee to her out of respect for her father and the gods themselves. A few neighboring kingdoms who were strong with the faith even swore fealty to her outright, without even a declaration of war. The lands of Godsvale had expanded to quadruple its size without even a drop of blood drawn. Now with an army, Queen Sophia began to march across the land, asking faithful kingdoms to fall under her banner (claiming it was "the banner of the gods") and mercilessly sacking pagan lands. It was her ruthlessness that earned her the nickname "Dagmar-with-a-Twat." Her most notable war of conquest was over the Kingdom of Vona Draconis, a kingdom just north of the border of Leonelle. While many pagan nations worshiped dragons, the rulers of Vona Draconis were in fact two green dragons: the brothers Focalor and Grigori. As the queen laid siege to the capital of Vonfell, the older brother Focalor landed right next to the queen and her royal guard. As he readied his breath weapon, Verdelet stepped in front of Sophia and cast a spell that petrified both the old cleric and the dragon. Their petrified bodies are now on display in the great hall of Vonfell. The dragon Grigori fled to the islands just south of the merchant cities, where he still takes nest to this day and is considered the High Dragon of his race. She spent most of her adult life conquering the pagan Tyrillan mountain clans, who worshiped the giants in the mountains as idols. Expansion west of the Tyrillan Expanse was much easier, as many kingdoms there swore fealty to her as soon as her banners met their gates. Sophia fought tirelessly until the age of 74, when she died of an infected wound in 85 OB. The wound was mysteriously incurable, even by the greatest healers in Godsvale. She was succeeded by her oldest son, Kiran. King Kiran the Crusader (85 OB - 107 OB) King Kiran Orphanborn is perhaps the most infamous of the Orphanborn, and for good reason. Born in the year 44 OB, Kiran was one of three children by Sophia and her husband, Lord Julien Flowers, who was a brilliant military commander who would only give up his kingdom for Sophia's hand in marriage. Reluctantly, she agreed. Kiran was tutored for most of his life by the champion of Ieraxa, a dwarf sailor named Fonnick who was gifted in the form of divination known as revelation, which is heavily connected to Ieraxan faith. Revelation is a very inconsistent form of divination, but the general theory of it is that prophetic visions come to a truly faithful humanoid during times of great stress: as a result, clerics of Ieraxa intentionally seek out danger to gain often maddening visions of the future from the goddess. Fonnick taught Kiran much in the way of revelation, and as a result Kiran was always a problem child of sorts, constantly seeking adventure. However, as he entered adolescence, he became much more stoic and quiet, spending most of his time praying at the statue of the Crones in the Church of the White Rose. This was because of a traumatic revelation he had as a child. According to Kiran, the gods had told him that the use of arcane magic among humanoids was against the will of the gods; in fact, arcane magic was a tainted gift from the fiends to humanoids so they may better orchestrate their will against the gods. Kiran felt the burden of this revelation was a curse, and it ate at his soul during his early years until he ascended the throne. His first and more controversial order of business was the establishment of the Order of Blind Justice, an order of paladins who answer to the hierarch (which was still Kiran at this time, the role of hierarch and sovereign of Pendrell were held by the same person) specifically to deal with matters that involve arcanists, fiends, and the undead. However, the Order became more than that. Though no king since Sophia has expanded the land of the Kingdom of Pendrell, Kiran definitely had a huge effect on foreign affairs. The Order was larger than most other kingdoms entire military forces, and even more well trained. Kiran would send these paladins on "witch hunts" across the entire continent. Many other kingdoms did nothing about the Order operating inside of their borders, as they feared it would be a slight against the will of the hierarch, and by proxy against the gods themselves. The Sultanate of Therya, however, would capture and publicly execute any Order knight who stepped foot on their land. Kiran, of course, took this as a slight, and send a large invasion force to attack Therya. This is known as the War of the Hierarch. It lasted approximately 6 years, but the Pendrells eventually won after the Sack of Sanctum yielded the execution of the entire ruling line of Therya at the time, the House of Istal. This set the stage for the Wars of Theryan Succession that dominated the country for the next 40 years until the rise of the Magisterium of Therya. The witch hunts continued with the occasional rebellion here and there against Pendrell overreach, but nothing to the scale of the War of the Hierarch. Pendrell forces occupied Therya for about a year before withdrawing, as it was a costly occupation and the desert landscape proved inhospitable without excessive use of arcane magic. King Kiran had a reputation for never leaving Orphan's Hold, as he had a great fear of the enemies he had made during the witch hunts, especially the displaced arcanist rebels he had created by burning all arcane magic academies within Pendrell. He was found hung from a noose in his solar in 107 OB without a suicide note. Some theorize that this was due to continued revelations into his adulthood destroying his mental state, but many others believe that it he was assassinated and the culprit made it look like a suicide. Some of the more unhinged conspiracy theorists even implicate Mishal in the act, as Kiran and Mishal were mortal enemies and Mishal had left Godsvale in 96 OB to live in Catarin, only returning to Godsvale a few short days after Kiran was found dead. Kiran's grandson, King Isaac Orphanborn, was the next to take the throne. King Isaac the Legislator (107 OB - 181 OB) Born in the year 92 OB by Kiran's oldest son Ulden Orphanborn, Isaac took the throne at the young age of 15 as his father had disappeared during an 101 OB expedition with the prospects of colonizing Solshaya. King Isaac is often considered the wisest and best of the Orphanborn kings, and the truest to the soul of his great grandfather Pendrell. He is known as "The Legislator" as most of his accomplishments come from the establishment of royal laws rather than conquest and war. Unfortunately, his reign is also tainted by one of the bloodiest civil wars in the history of Pendrell. His first order of business, under the advice of Mishal, was to relinquish the powers of hierarch and separate them from the crown. Now, instead of the king being also the leader of the faith, a council of Pendrell lords choose the leader of the faith only from candidates that live outside the kingdom. The first hierarch chosen this way was Caulen Moorswill, a halfling cleric of Quintus. His second main order of business was much more controversial, and wasn't made until an entire year after he took the throne due to intense deliberation and planning from his board of advisors (which included the last three remaining champions: Yuna, Mishal, and Fonnick). During these deliberations, all witch hunts were called off and all abroad soldiers of the Order were called home. Tensions were high before any explicit decisions were made. Eventually, the king decreed a law limiting the Order of Blind Justice to twenty paladins, rather than an entire standing army. In addition, it would be considered a war crime for a member of the Order to enforce Pendrell arcane laws outside of the borders of Pendrell. There was also a clause regarding sorcerers, claiming that while wizardry and being a warlock were punishable by hard jail time or even death, sorcerers instead had to register in a church-run academy where they learned to hone their powers. After the law was enforced, former Order knights began to form militia groups in revolt against the crown, claiming that Isaac was not following his grandfather's revelations and thus not following the will of the gods. As a result, many religious extremists and fundamentalists followed suit and took up arms against the Orphanborn. This resulted in a 9 year conflict known as the Blind Man Rebellions, as many of the militia groups were referred to as "the blind men." While more of a series of conflicts rather than an all-out war, it was extremely violent and bloody, costing the lives of many innocent smallfolk who were killed by both sides. After the rebellions had ran their course, the rest of Isaac's long reign knew relative peace, leading to a period of Pendric history known as the Era of Isaac, a golden age of sorts. Art flourished, the economy boomed, and Pendrell was recognized by a world power, even by the rising Empire of Kathamir in Solshaya, which was in the process of conquering Muramasa at this time. It was at this time that Mishal gained his reputation as a wandering hero, as with Isaac's strong and thoughtful reign he could take a step down from politics and instead solve the problems of the small folk. This is also the first time there was contact with Gnoma in 129 OB, when scouts from House Leonelle stumbled upon Blackrock Basin and found the city. They were intercepted by a group of gnomes who quickly shooed them away, but up until this point gnomes were thought to indigenous exclusively to the Feywilds, and relatively uncivilized to boot. King Isaac eventually died a peaceful death in his sleep in the year 181 OB, and was succeeded by his son Syril II Orphanborn. Crown rulers from 181 OB - 859 OB * King Syril II Orphanborn, 181 OB - 193 OB * King Syril III Orphanborn, 193 OB - 230 OB * King Furion Orphanborn, 230 OB - 277 OB * King Bastien Orphanborn, 277 OB - 278 OB, "the Fat" * King Isaac VI Orphanborn, 278 OB - 311 OB * King Leonard V Orphanborn, 311 OB - 399 OB, "the Long Lived" * King Bastien III Orphanborn, 399 OB - 414 OB * King Isaac XV Orphanborn, 414 OB - 435 OB * King Elridge Orphanborn, 435 OB - 444 OB, "the Handsome" * Queen Roana X Orphanborn, 444 OB - 466 OB * King Jareth II Orphanborn, 466 - 469 OB * King Isaac XX Orphanborn, 469 OB - 471 OB * King Isaac XXI Orphanborn, 471 OB - 560 OB, "the Longer Lived" * King Leonard XIX Orphanborn, 560 OB - 580 OB * Queen Esther Orphanborn, 580 OB - 584 OB, "the Ugly" * King Furion XII Orphanborn, 584 OB - 611 OB * King Syril X Orphanborn, 611 OB - 663 OB, "the Dancer" * King Jareth III Orphanborn, 663 OB - 697 OB * King Jareth IV Orphanborn, 697 OB - 710 OB * King Jareth V Orphanborn, 710 OB - 722 OB * King Jareth VI Orphanborn, 722 OB - 722 OB * King Haakon Orphanborn, 722 OB - 751 OB, "the Tower" * King Elridge XIII Orphanborn, 751 OB - 802 OB * Queen Lorielle II Orphanborn, 802 OB - 805 OB * King Loranthan Orphanborn, 805 OB - 847 OB * King Jonah IV Orphanborn, 847 OB - 859 OB King Ulden IX the Unlucky (859 OB - 867 OB) King Ulden IX Orphanborn, known posthumously as "the Unlucky," was the King of Pendrell during the War of the Moon and the Rose. Ulden was sent to squire for Lord Titus Leonelle at a very young age. Ulden gained a very strong sense of justice due to his squirehood for Titus, and held an incredible amount of respect for the man. It's said his face was red with tears when Titus knighted him and sent him back home. According to most who knew Ulden, Titus was more of a father to him than King Jonah ever was. Two years into Ulden's reign (861 OB), the Valtari Empire invaded Elduvia. Emperor Cedric Volken had killed King Maren Harwall in single combat, then drank his blood to gain his vampiric powers, all in a bid to gain immortality to avoid one of Lady Lucretia's prophecies. Seeing this as an opportunity to get a reputation as a just leader and an upholder of the faith, King Ulden decreed that the Valtari Empire was an unholy institution, and that it was imperative to bring the justice of the gods upon them for Cedric's actions. Ulden's bannermen agreed, and they began to mobilize for war. The War of the Moon and the Rose had begun. Most of the war took place in and around the Tyrillan Expanse, with Emperor Cedric and his forces marching down Pendrell castle after Pendrell castle. Things were looking bad for King Ulden already, but his fate was sealed when two years into the war effort House Leonelle declared themselves an independent kingdom and demanded separation from Pendrell. Ulden's hero and mentor, Titus, was his ally no longer, maintaining neutrality in the war from here on out (but secretly establishing a trade deal with the Empire behind Ulden's back). Since all of Pendrell's levies were in the Expanse, Ulden could not spare sending a troop to the Leonelle border: they seceded without a single casualty. The last four years of the war was a pure war of attrition within the Expanse, with the Valtari constantly a half step ahead of the Pendrells. Eventually, King Ulden's host was caught in an assault near the Summit of the Crones (the highest mountain in the Tyrillan Expanse, and the site of the Order monastery) and was destroyed by an overwhelming Valtari vanguard. Ulden's three sons were killed in the attack, leaving his daughter Sophia as his only heir. Ulden was to be brought to Castle Moondrake in chains, but escaped into the wilds on the way there. His body was eventually found a couple miles south of Sullenwald, apparently starved to death. Queen Sophia XIV Orphanborn was crowned queen after her father's death. Most agree that if the Leonelles had not withdrawn from the war and claimed independence, the Pendrells might have had a comeback and been able to destroy the Valtari Empire once and for all. Queen Sophia XIV and the resurgence of the Order of Blind Justice (867 OB - ) Born in 845 OB, Sophia was the fourth child of King Ulden. As she was not expected to ever rise to the throne of Pendrell, she was never specifically trained much for command, and thus has been considered a rather incompetent queen during her rule. The young queen Sophia's first action as queen was to sign a peace treaty with the Empire, forfeiting all land west of the Tyrillan Expanse and sending war reparations to Emperor Volken. The most relevant facet of Queen Sophia's reign thus far has been her marriage to Ser Markus Bracken, a member of a low level knightly house formerly sworn to House Woodsworth. As a 16 year old, Markus was the youngest member ever inducted into the Order of Blind Justice. Soon after, King Ulden arranged a marriage between the two less than a year before the war, after Sophia developed a crush on him while seeing him joust in a tourney at Lionstown. During the war, the Order remained on the homefront, generally charged with monster and fiend hunting efforts. However, Bracken had been taking on his own independent investigation into his former lieges, House Woodsworth, and found that the house had a long history of dealing with devils. Without telling any other member of the Order what he was up to, Bracken took justice into his own hands, and killed every member of the house single handedly for the crime of being warlocks. Bracken was thrown in a jail in Godsvale for his insubordination, but the trial was suspended indefinitely due to the war. When Sophia became queen, she pardoned him and named him "Commandant" of the Order of Blind Justice: a role that didn't exist before all of this, since the Order answered directly to the hierarch. Now, they can act almost completely independent of both the crown and the church. Under Commandant Markus Bracken, the Order has significantly grown in influence. All of King Isaac's reforms regarding the size and membership of the Order have been abolished, making them about 400 strong now rather than just 20.